By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz had just finished addressing the media in her introductory press conference on Tuesday when I approached her to offer my congratulations, and to share something I had heard about her.

I wanted Goetz to know what Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller said Monday on the radio about her recent promotion to permanent athletic director.

Heller shared a story about a conversation he had with long-time Minnesota baseball coach John Anderson shortly after Goetz had joined the Iowa Athletic Department as Deputy Athletic Director in 2022.

Anderson spoke highly of Goetz as a leader, and as an athletic administrator, and he told Heller that she was the best administrator he had worked with during a career that spans over four decades.

Anderson also told Heller that Iowa should do whatever it could to make sure that Goetz stays for the long haul because she is that talented.

Iowa has since taken those steps by promoting Goetz to athletic director.

She was introduced at the beginning of Tuesday’s press conference by Iowa President Barbra Wilson.

Goetz is currently the only woman athletic director in the Big Ten and one of just seven at the Power Five level.

“As you know, we had a national search,” Wilson said. “Many people asked me why would you hold a national search when you have a crown jewel sitting right here, and my answer was a search substantiates that she’s the right person, and that’s what happened. She went through a very vigorous and competitive search process, and we had a great search committee, and it was a tremendous amount of support for Beth in this position.”

Goetz also seems to have landed her dream job and she sounds as if she’s ready to stay for a while.

This marks just the fourth time that Iowa has hired a new athletic director since Bump Elliott was hired in 1970.

Bob Bowlsby held the title from 1991 to 2006 and was replaced by Gary Barta, who retired this past August.

“I don’t know what else you would look for that’s beyond these walls,” Goetz said before a packed room that included multiple UI women student-athletes. “I’m excited about my tenure here and certainly look forward to staying as long as President Wilson will have me.”

As for Anderson’s endorsement, Goetz smiled proudly when told what Anderson said about her.

One of the key parts of being a leader is building strong relationships, and Goetz certainly did that in her previous jobs and in her current one.

Goetz served as Minnesota’s Deputy Athletics Director from 2013-15 and the interim athletics director during the 2015-16 year.

She didn’t spend a lot of time in Minneapolis, but she still made a strong impression.

Goetz joined the Iowa athletics staff from Ball State University, where she had served as Director of Athletics since May, 2018. At Ball State, she directly supervised 19 Division I Intercollegiate sports teams, all head coaches, and the senior athletics department professional staff.

Ball State won 10 Mid-American Conference championships during the time Goetz served as athletics director, including seven during the 2021-22 athletics campaign, the most since 1999-2000.

Goetz also guided Ball State to strong marks in the Reese and Jacoby Trophy standings, which honors the top men’s and women’s athletics pro-grams in the MAC, respectively. The Cardinals placed third in the Reese Trophy standings in 2021-22, their best finish since taking second in 2013. In addition, Ball State reached heights never before achieved in the classroom including back-to-back years with a 90 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and the highest department GPA’s on record.

Tuesday’s press conference appears to be the culmination of a plan that was put in place when Goetz joined the Iowa staff in 2022.

Nobody from Iowa would ever confirm that, but it sure seems that way.

Gary Barta might have retired sooner than some had expected this past August.

But it didn’t really matter because Goetz was more than ready to take charge of the athletic department.

And take charge she did in stunning fashion as the interim athletic director.

Goetz shocked Hawkeye Nation when she fired Brian Ferentz as the Iowa offensive coordinator with four games left in the 2023 regular season.

Of course, she had the approval, or maybe even the order to do so from Barbara Wilson.

Whatever the case, Brian Ferentz is gone, and Beth Goetz, a former college soccer player and head coach, is now in charge of the athletic department.

She is Kirk Ferentz’s boss, and though it could be awkward working for the person that fired your son, Kirk Ferentz and Beth Goetz will have to make it work.

And they will, as both are professionals, and ultimately want the same thing.

Kirk Ferentz released a statement shortly after Goetz was promoted in which he praised Goetz for her leadership.

“Beth is an excellent leader and a perfect fit for the University of Iowa,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Her wealth of experience will help guide our programs into the new era of college athletics. It is a great day for Hawkeye student-athletes, staff, and fans.”

Goetz was asked Tuesday how her decision to fire Brian Ferentz almost three months ago has been received by fans, by the Iowa administration, and by Iowa football.

“I think every decision we make is certainly an impactful one and certainly some are more visible than others,” Goetz said. “Anytime you make a decision about someone who has meant so much to this institution and to a program, it’s always going to be difficult.

“But at the end of the day, relationships and leadership is about building trust, and you take the information that you have, you make the best decision that you can in the short and the long term. You do that with your values in mind, making sure you’re taking into consideration all those that are impacted, and you go from there.

“I think over time, you continue to develop that trust and that respect that even in moments where some may agree and some don’t that they understand how you got to those decisions, and you work hard to ensure that while you may not agree on every account, that they know that you support them, you care about them, and certainly in the case of football, how passionate I am about continuing to support Coach Ferentz and that program moving forward.”

In other words, Goetz made a decision that she felt was in the best interest of Iowa football, and Kirk Ferentz really has no choice but to accept that decision.

He could always retire, but he doesn’t seem interested in stepping down right now, and he has certainly earned the right to say when he’s had enough.

Kirk Ferentz can resent Goetz’s decision to fire his son, and he doesn’t have to agree with it.

But you hope at some point Kirk Ferentz could look beyond the father-son aspect of the firing and realize that Goetz made a bold move that some would say was long overdue.

She did as the interim athletic director what Gary Barta avoided doing with Brian Ferentz.

The closest Barta came to taking a stand with Brian Ferentz was to revise his contract by adding some performance incentives, including that Iowa had to average at least 25 points per game last season for Brian Ferentz’s contract to roll over.

The decision backfired, though, as the incentives became a joke at the expense of Brian Ferentz and Hawkeye football.

Barta also didn’t have to deal with the fallout since he retired before the 2023 season started.

He left Goetz to deal with the fallout, which included some fans chanting for Brian Ferentz to be fired during games.

It was embarrassing for Brian Ferentz, for Kirk Ferentz, and for the Iowa Athletic Department.

At some point, Goetz had seen and heard enough and she took action.

Her decision to fire Brian Ferentz in season didn’t sit well with some fans and with some former Iowa players. But part of being a leader is making tough decisions that sometimes don’t please everybody.

No one person is more important or bigger than the program, and fans were reminded of that when Goetz dismissed Brian Ferentz.

It took a lot of courage, and some nerve for Goetz to fire Kirk Ferentz’s son.

Kirk Ferentz is now searching for a new offensive coordinator and Goetz was asked Tuesday for an update on the search and about salary considerations in the wake of Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker having his annual compensation raised to $1.9 million.

“I feel really good about where the process is,” Goetz said. “I know there are a lot of people anxious certainly to hear what the final decision is and who is going to be joining that team. I think all those puzzle pieces are going to come together here in short order. I’ve worked very closely with Coach. Certainly, we have a financial blueprint that we work through, and then from there we’re evaluating each and every current staff member and also those that we may be considering for that role. We also, as you know, have another position open, as well.

“It’s really a big picture. We certainly recognize the escalating salaries across the country and want to make sure that we’re great stewards of our resources and also want to do our best to support our programs and make sure that we can continue to be competitive.”

Goetz will ultimately have to sign off on whomever Kirk Ferentz chooses to hire as the offensive coordinator, and as his new receiver coach because that’s what athletics director do in these cases.

But it’s silly to suggest that she is helping with the selection process.

Goetz has to trust that Kirk Ferentz will make the right hires and help him anyway she can.

If Kirk Ferentz truly believes that Goetz is the perfect fit for this job then their working relationship should be just fine.

They both want the same thing, which is success for the Iowa football team.

The decision to fire Brian Ferentz was a business decision, and a decision that Kirk Ferentz probably couldn’t bring himself to make for personal reasons.

So Goetz did it for him because that’s what a good leader does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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